We enjoyed a really good meal from the early bird (£9.95) menu at the Great Western. It was very good value for money as the meals we ordered were delicious and came in really large portions. They even give you take-away cartons if you you can't manage everything on the night so that you can eat your left overs at home the following day. Highly recommended.

As one previous reviewer suggested, the lack of cars on the car park, should have been a warning. We elected to eat and order a meal in the main pub, lounge, which is reminiscent of an a scene from `Steptoe and Son`, with a hotch potch of sad old furnishings, dominated by an unlit, coal fire and a full ash pan to match, surmounted with a large, life sized, old stuffed bison`s head!!!. The whole area appears shabby and sad. To make matters worse, we had to sit through the entire meal whilst the landlord flitted form Ant and Dec, to the History channel on the t.v. remote control, the screen being directly behind us The menu is very limited, and the highlight turned out to be a lukewarm starter of a smoked haddock fish cake, served with(for some reason) a diced salad in a kidney bowl. Not to be put off I ordered the mini mixed grill from `Specials board` and my wife ordered a gammon steak. When asked what vegetables came with the meal?, `mein host` replied `dunno, ones that grow in the ground, carrots , peas and summit else, I think` we again elected to have the salad. The gammon arrived some 20 mins later with not one but three fried eggs welded together and `hard ` fried, accompanied ny an entire tin of pineapple rings. The mixed grill was more of an incinerated all day breakfast, with a reconstituted chicken fillet, all of which had a slight taste of plastic, the diced salad again appeared on the table as an accompaniment. Ther could have been no more than 8 to 10 people dining in various parts of this establishment at 8.00 p.m. on a Saturday night, there`s the clue, and within 10 feet of the bar, the drinks service was even less impressive. We quickly asked for the bill, declined the offer of dessert, paid up and left. Never again, this experience was awful.

The Great Western has been one of our favourite pub eating places over the last 4 years or so.We visit as a family if 4 with two little ladies as well as two adults.Previously all has been well up until our last two visits.The standard of food on our last visit was nowhere near earlier visits but yesterday was truly awful.I can't begin to tell you how bad the lasagne was,it was a one out of ten affair,so so bland and just so dry and all i could taste was mixed herbs and tinned tomatoes.The Morroccan Lamb was slightly better but again the over riding taste was tinned tomatoes and oregano.When my partner enquired what was in the Morroccan lamb prior to ordering,the chef couldn't really tell the barman and all she heard from within the kitchen was "some spices and stuff"!!!...totally put off going again now,i should have said something but i had already made my mind up i wouldn't be going again after my second mouthful so i opted for the get out of there as quick as possible route which i now regret...i may well ring up this week and let them know how disappointed we were....

As a regular to The Great Western over the last 20years (my grandparents used to take me in as a child for Sunday lunch) I have seen it change hands a few times and seen its ups and downs. With the current owners The Great Western is going from strength to strength.

In a time when pubs across the uk appear to be struggling The Grreat Western, out in the sticks and only accessible really by car (bus is "supposedly" every hour and it's a bloody long walk from Marsden or Delph) is doing well, great food and always a good selection on wine, spirits and pump ale aswell as the usual you'd expect to see on the bar.

The staff are always friendly and helpful, if something is wrong they all try their dam hardest to make sure it's put right. On a sunny day there is nothing like a pint outside just admiring the view. Unfortunately the road that goes past the front of the pub is national speed limit but when your inside the pub you can hardly hear it anything.

Visited Great Western several times in the last few years and woud have agreed with amandabck wholeheartedly until today.What had been a busy Pub was almost empty and had a much reduced menu. Dry roast beef, paltry veg, very little gravy and black plastic film in with the veg. Better not mention the fried fish which looked as if it had been fried at least twice as long and twice as often as needed,forgotten sauce,wrong drinks order and strange smell in dining room not put right by apologies and reduced bill.
Emptiness of the place should have warned of its demise, sad to say I don't think we will be visiting again.